Chapter 101 - Test Completed

Watching the mouse in his hand, Richard’s eyes flashed, and he shook his head.No, it was not dead. Its heart was still beating, but its vital signs were very weak. It had its mouth wide open, emitting harsh, heavy breaths, as if it was… suffocating?

Richard placed the mouse on the ground and walked over to pick up a lit oil lamp from the room, then put it into the Iron Ring and took it out again.

As expected, the oil lamp had gone out.

This confirmed why living things could not be put into the Iron Ring, or rather why they could not be kept inside for long—because it was in a vacuum state.

A vacuum? No air?

Thinking about it, that made sense.

Air has volume.

Usually, when putting things into a storage, the storage can be filled up without feeling the effect of the air because the storage is not sealed. As items are added, the air is displaced to other areas or pushed out of the storage.

But inside the Iron Ring, it was different; it was a space that couldn’t connect with the outside world, completely sealed, and entirely isolated. The volume occupied by air couldn’t be ignored. If the space inside the Iron Ring wasn’t vacated into a vacuum, only a very small amount of items could be placed, and adding more would cause them to be forcibly ejected by the air.

While it is true that air can be compressed, anyone who had played with modern-day syringes on Earth would understand that the more compressed the air, the greater the rebound force. If the air was compressed to half and then forcefully stuffed with some items, they would likely be burst by the rebound force of the air, which obviously was not worth the loss.

After all, the value of air was nearly negligible. If things could be put there, naturally one wouldn’t let a clump of air occupy the space, and thus the inside of the Iron Ring was evacuated into a vacuum.

With this, the issue of placing living things had been clarified as well.

In the current world, Space Items were not incapable of storing living beings, but for maximum utilization, this application was forsaken. If it were absolutely necessary to put living beings inside, it was feasible by having the living beings wear oxygen tanks. Alternatively, if the space inside was emptied completely, abandoning the storage function and filling it with a certain amount of air, then a life form could survive for a considerable time.

In fact, it was just that the space inside the Iron Ring was relatively small. If it were larger, like in the legends, with thousands of cubic meters or kilometers, there wouldn’t be this problem. In a vast space, air could circulate, allowing the storage and maintenance of life forms without compromise, and even permitting more advanced modifications.

For instance, by creating an energy source then moving soil, water, air, plants, bacteria, and animals into the space, one could craft a functioning ecological environment.

Such an environment, if made smaller, would be an ecological sphere. Slightly larger, it would be a self-sufficient garden. Even larger, one could construct a village.

If made even larger, it could form a city, a plain, or even an entire continent. By expanding further, it could evolve into a planet, a galaxy, or even a universe.

Sometimes Richard pondered whether the modern Earth he had once lived on, as well as the current world, could have been created in such a way?

A world artificially made, existing inside a box?

This was not a baseless speculation. Richard had read about an ancient wizard civilization’s lost space magic in the “Monroe Chapter.”

The name of the spell was “Lost Paradise,” where casters, using their formidable power, could cut out a piece of space from the Main World to create a similar small-scale “half-plane.” Within the half-plane, the caster could play God, freely setting everything—altering terrain, environment, climate, placing life forms, humans, and ultimately creating a portable kingdom.

The Kingdom, due to differing demands from spellcasters, presented itself in bizarre and varied forms.

Adventurous spellcasters would transform it into a massive war fortress, housing tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of fully armed soldiers, thousands of wizards from the Wizard Army, numerous giant Mechanical Demon Statues, tamed Demonized Giant Beasts, and dangerous spell combat machines. Once in danger, the spellcasters could instantly unleash a massive army to aid them in battle, crushing their enemies.

Research-focused spellcasters would convert it into a vast academy, where outstanding talents from around the world were gathered to work for him. Those who favored violence would turn it into a bloody Purgatory City, erecting numerous Battle Arenas and occasionally holding human hunts. And spellcasters who loved women would simply establish a real “Daughter Country,” allowing various charming women to live there, satisfying their own desires.

When spellcasters traveled around the world, they could always return to their “Lost Paradise” to rest, enjoy, and relax. This was why it was called “Lost Paradise” — in it, pleasure was lost because every moment was pleasurable.

This type of magic had once driven ancient wizards collectively mad. According to the records of the “Monroe Chapter,” there was an era when all powerful wizards were opening up their own “Lost Paradises,” hoarding everything inside them like hibernating hamsters. However, after the great catastrophe arrived, everything ceased to exist—whether it was the Main World or the half-planes in the Lost Paradise, all were destroyed.

When the new wizard civilization developed from the ruins, the inheritance of space magic had been interrupted. Thus, up to now, the wizards of the current world were unable to create space items, let alone open up half-planes like Lost Paradise. As time passed and the inherited space items became damaged, space items had become extremely scarce. Even a space item that was only a few cubic centimeters in size, barely enough to fit a Short Wand, was extraordinarily rare.

Like the Iron Ring that Richard now held, it was already considered highly valuable.

Richard did not know what identity the Mysterious Wizard had, to have such a practical Iron Ring. But since he had obtained it, he intended to squeeze out all its value.

Taking a deep breath, Richard continued testing.

After a considerable amount of time, Richard completed all the planned tests and had gained a general understanding of the Iron Ring in his hand.

Taking out a new Papyrus Scroll, a Quill, and a bottle of Ink, he prepared to record his findings. Glancing at the broken wooden table on the ground, Richard shrugged, took the Papyrus and other items, and went over to the bed, placing them on the bedstead.

On the floor, a mouse, which had almost suffocated to death, gradually began to recover. Initially showing its belly and gasping while lying on its back, it suddenly flipped over and stood up.

Recalling the inexplicable series of tortures it had just experienced, the mouse scanned its surroundings and hurriedly prepared to flee.

The next moment, however, it felt a gaze upon it and froze.

Richard watched the mouse, his eyes flickered, and he murmured, “You know, you’re lucky—in death, you granted me the information I wanted; otherwise, you would have suffered much more.”

“Squeak…” The mouse, pulling its neck in, looked at Richard and squeaked.

“Go on,” Richard waved his hand, “Don’t let me see you again, or I can’t guarantee you’ll be so lucky next time.”

“Squeak…” The mouse hurried into a hole it had made on the side of the bed.

“Go out through the door,” Richard called.

The mouse paused, looked at Richard, and the next moment it ran towards the door, quickly disappearing from sight.

Richard wasn’t surprised by this—mice could understand human language, as there was already a consensus about this from research. Not just mice, but pets like cats and dogs too could grasp several hundred human words. The so-called intelligence of animals being equivalent to that of a four- or five-year-old human child wasn’t just a simple statement but was indeed reflected in all aspects.

Seeing the mouse leave, with no more disturbances, Richard picked up a chair from the side, moved it next to the wooden bed, and began writing on the Papyrus Scroll with the Quill.